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Hearings ahead on CFPB, housing reform

Oct. 28, 2013 – NAFCU will closely monitor several hearings coming up this week – and will testify in one tomorrow – on housing finance reform, the Federal Housing Administration’s financial situation and reforms for the CFPB.

Tomorrow, NAFCU witness Lynette Smith, president and CEO of Washington Gas Light FCU in Springfield, Va., will testify on several CFPB reform bills before the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit. Smith will discuss previous NAFCU-supported proposals to reform the agency. Among those are proposals to change CFPB structure, to give the Financial Stability Oversight Council more power to veto CFPB rules, and for the agency to better protect sensitive data it collects.

Also ahead this week:

Tomorrow, the Senate Banking Committee will hold a hearing called “Housing Finance Reform: Essentials of a Functioning Housing Finance System for Consumers,” which will feature testimony from representatives from the Center for Responsible Lending, Genworth Financial, Inc., K & L Gates LLP, and the National Consumer Law Center.

Also tomorrow, the House Financial Services Committee will hold a hearing on the Federal Housing Administration, subtitled, “Implications of a $1.7 billion Taxpayer Bailout.” The hearing will focus on FHA’s announcement in September that it needed $1.7 billion from the Treasury Department to comply with the Federal Credit Reform Act’s requirements that credit agencies have enough reserves to cover anticipated future losses.

Also on Tuesday, the House Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on H.R. 3309, “Improving the Patent System to Promote American Innovation and Competitiveness.”

On Wednesday, the Senate Banking Committee will hold a hearing on the JOBS Act and its effectiveness after a year and a half. The hearing will include testimony from the Securities and Exchange Commission, the North American Securities Administrators Association, consulting and legal firms, and an organic grocery delivery services.

On Thursday, the Senate Banking Committee will hold a hearing on elements of a government guarantee for mortgage-backed securities. The hearing will include testimony from representatives from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the Mortgage Bankers Association, as well as an economics professor from the University of Maryland.